Weekly Gratitude

I have been slack on my idea of posting a weekly gratitude but I figure better late than never.
Since arriving in Tanzania I have grateful for the companionship and guidance of the MCC team that is already here and to the Iringa Rd Mennonite Church (IRMC) team. Without them I do not know how I would have survived my first 3 weeks.They have all gone out of their way to open their doors and hearts to me. They answer any and all of my questions, no matter how silly they may seem :)
At this time I do not have pictures, but hope to sometime in the future.

Akron Photos- Part Two

I just realized I never published this post, even though it was more or less ready.

Here are more photos of Akron and area. I love how quaint this place is. I never in my life thought I would actually see an Amish horse and buggy in real life!

Above is a typical picture of the countryside here, which you can easily see by just walking a few blocks in any give direction.
Below are some pictures of the town closest to Akron, Ephrata. I love the main street with the old buildings that are all fixed up.

 I couldn't decide if I liked the color or the black and white better so I thought I would let you all vote :)

And last but not least, the buggy!

 

 

A Glimpse of my Africa

I am at the office today and thought I would take advantage of it and upload some photos. Naturally I am not in any of them :) and I have not edited any of them.

  

Learning how to make tering ropes.

 

 

Everyone is signing together to encourage those who are 

pounding in stakes with rocks (aka Jodi's Hammer).

 

The women are digging planting stations. 

We set up a timed race between the men and women. 

 

The mens' turn showing how fast they can dig planting stations.

 

Two of my favorite little girls and Don.

 

Group photo from when we finished planting one of the 

nine demonstration gardens. 

 

One of the many mommas who have welcomed me.

Those in this village have already given me a Swahili name,

Mamma Mamvula. It more or less means Women of Rain.

Ma is almost the same as women and mvulu means rain.

They gave me this name because it had not rained for a month prior to my arriving even though it is the rainy season right now. Within 2 days of me coming to Dodoma it rained everyday for 6 days. 

I am honored to have already received a Swahili name from one of the 

communities that I will be working with.

2 little boys who followed us everywhere as we were discussing
with the village group the best place to build the next sand dam.

The picture below is the view up-river of where one of the

sand dams will be built this year.

And that is a quick glimpse of Africa for you. 

Sand Dam Site

Just wanted to let you all know that one of my colleagues Don has set up a blog for the sand dam project here in Dodoma. I will most likely be taking over the blog over the next few months. Don has done a great job setting up this site and it is full of information.
Enjoy :)

Overwhelmed in Africa

I spent my first week in Arusha with Simeon and Janelle and their little guy Malachi who is 8 months old. They are a wonderful couple who made me feel so at home the minute I walked in (at 11pm). The ECHO conference was a great way to meet so many people in the same field, but I feel I did not truly benefit because I was too tired and overwhelmed by the newness of everything. Oh well, that’s the way she goes :)

For the first three days here in Dodoma I have been spending the day out at Chididomo (which is about a 45 minute drive and someday I will post pictures of the ‘road’). Grant (South Africa) and Graham (Arusha) are here to teach the local people about Farming Gods Way. I am very grateful that Grant and Graham were here to give this training season to the people as I have learned a lot too.

Sitting at the back of the class Graham and Grant asked the group if any of them have stood in line for food aid at some point in their lives. Tears filled my eyes when I saw that every hand in the room of 40 some people went up, except for those of us who were white. I am still not sure exactly how I feel about that fact, but it hurts. It is like all those TV ads but this made it so real for me. 

I know have some idea of where to start. We are setting up demonstration gardens at the Chididomo school so I have a place to gather people and teach them. I am looking forward to learning from the people more details of how they farm and how we can build on that so they are more fruitful. We will have 9 demo gardens to start with and may increase it to 12. 

On Wednesday we planted our Well Watered Garden with the group that has been learning about Farming Gods Way this week from Grant and Graham. It was my first test to see how well I can handle the heat and I think I passed (although I think I have a little bit of heat exhaustion and slightly burnt). I have no idea how hot it was, most likely mid 30’s, and by the end of the day I was wiped. 8pm and I am ready for bed!

There is so much more I could write and I know I could give many more details, but this will have to do for this week.And hopefully there will a few pictures soon :)

Gratitude of the Week

Yesterday in our session on 'Care for Yourself while in Service' one of the suggestions was to write a gratitude journal. This is so that when you are feeling down and out you will have something to remind you of all the good things. So I decided that I would share with all of you weekly one thing I am grateful for.

This week I am grateful for all the amazing people I have met. Friendships that have begun and will continue and for the love and support that they have given me (and hopefully I have given them in return). Thank you also for sharing your stories and for all the laughs!

Photo taken on our last day together